Pureblood
by TheNewPoseidon
Summary: Draco's the good kid... Me? I'm the crazy one who got to Azkaban at 16 for attempted murder. And you thought you were crazy. (Slow-burning romance between Sirius/OC)
1. On My Short Life Before Azkaban

**J.K. Rowling is worth more than the queen because of her literary talents. I am worth the $300 dollars in my savings account.**

**I also have this story up on under the username Slenderwoman.**

Every exciting story has to start with a rather slow beginning. So if you're here to here about me going to Azkaban and fighting Voldemort, you're gonna have to listen to me tell you about my childhood.

I was born the eldest Malfoy child, and the only daughter. My parents gave the awesome name to my brother, Draco Lucius Malfoy. They gave me the mouthful of Nathascha Narcissa Rainier Malfoy. For five years of my life, I was my parents pride and joy, the light of their life. After Draco was born, the attention immediately turned to him. He was the Malfoy heir, the prince, where I was just a Grand Duchess at most.

I don't hate my parents. They still loved me, obviously. I was just the less important of their two children. That's really the reason I started my slow descent into madness. At a social event when I was 10, my mother got the awful idea of letting me try her wine. I developed a taste for it, and I was having my house elf sneak me alcohol every time my parents left me alone. When I was 12, my best friend Catonia and I tried tattooing ourselves Muggle style in our dormitory at Hogwarts. I still have that shitty little thing on my hip, half of it faded and smudged, looking more like a penis than a heart.

The straw that broke the camel's back was when I was 13, in my third year at Hogwarts. Back then, I had only one friend, Catonia. We were both extremely quiet and awkward, seeking each other's silent company. We thought we were so rebellious, when in all actuality we were just sad little tweens trying to get through puberty. But I digress.

Catonia and I were sitting in the Slytherin Common Room one Saturday night, working on our homework silently together when we heard something juicy.

"Did you hear about the party going on tonight?" One older kid asked another.

"The one in the old Charms room? Hell yea! I heard Mack McKenzies supposed to be there. He's such a riot!" The second said.

"Who cares about him! I heard Louisa Barnett's supplying alcohol!" The first said excitedly. The two laughed, then start making plans about how they were going to sneak out later.

Catonia and I slowly looked up at each other, sneaky grins on our faces. "Have you been to a party yet?" I asked, knowing she hadn't.

"No. You?" She asked back.

I shook my head. "No... Wanna go?" I shut my text book and stood up.

"Yes!" She jumped up too, and the two of us rushed up the our dormitory to get ready.

Lucky for us, Catonia was a half-blood, with a muggle for a mother, so she knew more about makeup than I ever dreamed of knowing. She also had some 'in-style' muggle clothes that I could borrow (Being a Pureblood pretty much guarantees that I have no sense of style). And with a simple enlargement charm, we gave ourselves breasts. Not great ones, but passible to an intoxicated person.

"What do you think?" Catonia asked as we viewed ourselves in the mirror.

"We look pretty good," I smiled at her reflection. "I think we're ready to go."

We didn't know of any secret passages, so it's really a miracle that we managed to get up to the third floor without getting caught by anyone. We wondered up and down the corridor until we saw some older students enter a room. We followed, and inside was the craziest thing I'd ever seen. The only parties I'd been to were high-class social events, so I had no idea what to expect. There had to have been a charm to make the room seemingly silent to passerby, but inside the loudest music I've ever heard was blaring. There was a giant group of people dirty dancing in the middle of the room, alcohol sloshing out of their plastic cups. Couples were making out in every corner, and on every seat.

Catonia and I looked at each other in awe, not quite sure what to do now. I shrugged and headed over towards the beverage table while Catonia ran into the center of the dancing mass, dancing by herself until a Gryffindor I barely recognized joined her. I sipped a Muggle drink out of a bottle, feeling the alcohol warm me from my toes to my the top of my head.

I stood there for a long time, people watching and drinking stronger and stronger drinks by as the night wore on. Catonia had started having an in-depth conversation with the Gryffindor, their eyes never leaving each other. I hardly felt him come up next to me, our shoulders touching. "I haven't seen you before," a voice whispered in my ear. I jumped and turned to look at him. Marcus Fudge, the Minister for Magic's son, stood next to me, a small smile on his face.

I was pretty drunk by this time, so I wasn't good at thinking up a decent lie. "I.. like the library." I slurred.

He laughed. "I see. So what are you doing here?"

"People-watching." I replied with a shrug.

"Mind if I grab us both a drink and join you?" He spoke smoothly, and he didn't smell like alcohol. I nodded my head yes and watched him travel through the crowd.

I went back to watching Catonia, who was now making out with Mr. Gryffindor. Marcus re-appeared quickly, drinks in tow. "So, I never got your name!"

"Oh," I thought for a moment. "Natalia, I'm a fifth year.."

"Marcus, seventh," he smiled and raised his cup to me, keeping his eyes on me as he drank. "Go ahead and drink up, we have so much more talking to do."

I did as he said. This drink was the strongest I'd had! The second the alcohol touched my lips, my brain start to go numb, but stupid me kept drinking it. Marcus kept talking and I kept talking and I honestly couldn't tell you what we were talking about. All I know is it didn't last long and before I knew it I had agreed to go someplace private so we could hear each other better and that place was a secret room behind a tapestry and then it happened. He kissed me and I kind of kissed back. At this point my mind was fuzzy and I knew something wasn't right about the kiss. It was fierce and it hurt and I didn't like it. I tried pushing him away but he didn't stop. He didn't stop until he had gone past the point of no return and he left me behind that tapestry, crying and drunk and alone. I don't remember passing out, but I do remember waking up behind that ugly, awful tapestry with my pants across the tiny room and a headache like no other. I tried convincing myself that it didn't happen. It didn't happen and I dreamed it all. But everything hurt both inside and out. Emotionally and physically. I knew the truth whether I wanted to admit it or not.

I stumbled back to the dormitory, tripping over myself and silently letting tears stream down my face. Catonia never questioned my lie about passing out in a broom closet, although I think she knew better than that. She should have called me out, she should have said something to me, but she didn't.

*****************************3 Years Later******************************************

Three years had passed since that disgusting night. It tooka few months, but my parents finally agreed to pull me from Hogwarts and started home-teaching me. They never did find out from me why I was so adament about leaving that place, but much like Catonia, I think my mother knew and never asked. After that, I never left the house. Catonia stopped sending me letters once she recognized I wasn't going to reply. I hadn't seen Marcus since that night, although he haunted me in almost every dream I had.

The summer that Draco came back from his first year at school, my parents were throwing a huge social benefit for St. Mungo's. Most of the time when they threw parties, I would appease them by showing up for a short amount of time. I would dress up and sip a few drinks and have some appetizers and mingle with the prestigious people they invited. But I always avoided the Minister. His face looked too much like Marcus', and the second I saw him I had to leave. I would fake stomach aches or drowsiness or hell, the first time I saw him after that happened I puked all over the dining hall, and everyone had to be escorted to the library to finish their mingling.

Anyway, this social event was going to be a big one. Our house elf had spent a week preparing for it, and Draco and I were forced to wear the best clothes we had. So, I dressed up into my best dress, a simple black gown that fell to the floor, with a light green sash around the middle. My mother had done my hair into a fancy updo, and did my makeup to make my grey eyes more intense. "You look beautiful," she said as she hugged me from behind, our eyes locking in the middle. Side by side you could see how similar we looked, with our long dark hair and high cheekbones.

"Thanks," I smiled at her.

"You know, this night is very important for your father. The Minister is even going to be there," she raised her dark eyebrows at my frown. "And I'd appreciate it if you stayed the whole night. Or at least until the first people begin to leave. Please?"

I closed my eyes, willing myself not to cry and ruin my makeup. "I'll do it." I said steadily.

"Thank you, Darling. I love you... Try not to be too fashionably late." I never opened my eyes, but I could hear her exit the room, her huge green gown rustling as she left.

I sat there for probably a half an hour, taking my deep breaths and trying to keep calm. I can do this, I can do this... I will do this.

"Hello, Nathascha!" My father exclaimed when I stepped into the dining hall, pulling me into a hug. From behind his back, my brother made a face a me. I matched it, sticking my tongue out before pulling out of my father's too long hug. Some higher-up Ministry official came up and started talking to my father and I, small-talking about the weather and how our families have been. Draco stood loyally by my dad's side. He always followed my dad around all night, looking like a miniature of him. I laughed at an awful joke the official said and excused myself to get some food.

I turned around and that's when I saw him. Marcus fucking Fudge strolling around the buffet table and filling his plate. I stood, glued to the spot, unable to move. He finally felt me staring and looked up, smiling and heading towards me in quick strides. He grabbed my arm before I could run and smiled coldly. "Natalia? Hey! I haven't seen you in so long."

I wrenched my arm out of his hand and turned to leave. He grabbed me again. "What's the matter?" That smile turned up a little more, looking demented.

"Get the fuck away from me," I whispered.

"What's your problem?" His grip tightened.

"I don't want to be around you, you sick fuck," My teeth were clenched together so tightly it hurt.

"I don't understand," Marcus tilted his head like a dog, that smile still there. He was toying with me.

I snapped. I pulled my wand out of my dress and waved it wildly, shouting whatever curses came to mind. Something exploded and someone grabbed me around the middle. I threw a curse at them, too. People were screaming and someone hit me with a spell and I blacked out.


	2. On My Botched Trial and New Cell-Mate

**.K. Rowling owns the Harry Potter Universe. I own a car older than I am.**

I'm not quite sure how long I was out, but when I finally came to I was laying on a white bed in a small white room. I was wearing a baggy white gown. I squinted a little. The light was pretty intense, and I couldn't quite place where I was. There was a door that almost completely blended into the wall, except for the tiny window at the top. I tried jumping to see outside, but it was way too tall. Was I in Heaven? Did I die? I quickly dismissed the thoughts and started investigating the room. Bed, toilet, shower... It was a prison cell of sorts. I realized I didn't have my wand. I was completely hopeless.

That's when I started freaking out. "HELP!" I screamed, pounding on the door. "HELP ME!"

I could hear faint mutter coming from behind the door, and my body locked up in a full body-bind curse. I fell to the floor, eyes wide open as a young woman in Healer's robes rushed in. "Are you okay?" She asked. I tried to answer her, but my mouth was locked shut. She stared at me for a few seconds, waiting for me to respond. "Oh! You can't talk, can you?" She shook her head, and her wand, and I was motionless from the head up.

"What's going on?!" I asked frantically, eyes locked on hers.

She narrowed her eyes at me. "What do you mean...?"

"I mean where am I? What am I doing here?" This girl was a complete dunce.

She raised her eyebrows and a look of disbelief showed. "Excuse me?"

"Excuse you what?" If she hadn't cursed me, I would have slapped the shit out of her.

"Do you not remember what happened..?"

"No, I don't! That's why I'm asking you!"

Her eyes narrowed again, and she was looking pretty livid. "How do you not remember attacking the Minister for Magic's son, then attempting to kill the Minister himself when he stepped in?"

I layed there in shock for a few seconds. "What did you just say?"

"You know what I said," and with that, she left the room. When the door clicked shut behind her, I was free to move again. I curled up into a ball on the floor, thinking about what was just said. There was no way that I could have done that. No fucking way.

I don't know how long I sat there, thinking those two sentences over and over again. I felt tired, but I didn't want to sleep. I was hungry, but not in the mood to eat that food that had magically appeared in my room sometime before. All I was in the mood for was trying to figure out what happened.

Eventually I fell asleep, and I was rudely aware of this when someone picked me up off the floor and shook me violently. I screamed, flailing away from this person. A large, dark man stood in front of me, his brown eyes filled with disgust. "Wake up," he said simply in a deep voice.

"You made sure of that," I muttered to him, rubbing my arms where he'd grabbed me. The same place Marcus had grabbed me.. how long ago? Hours, days?

He threw a black and grey suit at me. "Put this on."

"No. Why?" I glared at him.

He took a step towards me and shoved his large finger in my face. "You will do as I say or I will curse you into oblivion. Do you hear me?"

As much as I liked to pretend I was a bad-ass, I was terrified of this man. "I-I at least request that you leave so that I can dress in private," I stammered.

He took a step backwards, his finger still up. "You have two minutes."

I nodded as he slammed the door shut. I dressed as quickly as I could and pounded on the door when I was done. "I'M DONE NOW, JACKASS." Wow, I was so tough when he wasn't looking.

He wrenched the door open and grabbed my arm again, dragging me outside the room and down a long white hallway. It smelled clean, and it had doors like mine every 10 feet or so.

"Where am I going?" I whispered to the man. He didn't answer, he just kept dragging me along.

A few minutes later he led me into what appeared to be a visiting room, all grey with lots of arm chairs set around a square coffe table. The only people in this room were... my parents! I pulled myself from the man's tight grip and ran into their arms, hugging them tightly. My mother lightly patted my back. I ended the hug, looking at them. They were paler than usual, with dark bags under their eyes.

"Thank you, Titus. You may leave... We are more than capable of handling her." My father said coolly the the large man. I heard a grunt, then the door slammed shut.

My mother held me out at arms length, looking at me with teary grey eyes. "Why Nathascha? What did we-" She let out a small sob. "What did we do wrong as parents?"

I furrowed my eyebrows at her. "Nothing. I don't even know what's going on. Some lady told me I tried to kill the Minister."

My father raised his eyebrows. "That's the gist of it. Are you faking stupid so they will feel sorry for you? Because that's a shitty way to act innocent."

"Who will feel sorry for me?" I asked, confused.

"The Wizengamot! You think you're just going to go home after this?!" Father waved his arms about angrily. "Nathascha, we have attempted assassinaion on our hands! You have a trial! You can be sentenced to life in Azkaban if we're not careful!"

I took a few steps back from everyone and collapsed on the floor. I was too shocked to think or say anything. Why hadn't I thought of this last night? "W-wh-when is my-my trial?" It took a long time to get that short sentence out.

Mother let out another wailing sob before saying something I couldn't understand.

"Tomorrow," Father said flatly, looking sad and exhausted.

"WHAT?!" I almost passed out right there.

Titus flew through the door, wand raised. "I heard yelling."

Father waved him away, "we're fine."

The man didn't move. "I need to take her now."

Another sob from my mother, another sigh from my dad. They both gave me quick hugs and waved to me as I was dragged out of the door.

I hardly slept that night. Or if I did, it was not refreshing. I layed on the bed, looking up at the dark ceiling and wondering what was I supposed to do? Surely people must have seen the truth? That I didn't try to kill anybody...

Titus eventually came back. "Wake up," he grabbed me to shake me again, but I sat up. "Get ready to go. Your parents have provided you this outfit for the trial." He pointed at a pile of folded clothes on the floor.

"Thanks."

"Two minutes." I dressed just as quickly as last time. My parents had given me one of my mother's nicer outfits. A knee length black skirt and white button-up blouse. I combed my hair with my fingers and hoped I looked okay.

Titus returned and grabbed me, pulling me down the hallway again. He didn't have the same hateful demeanor. Probably because he knew he was getting rid of me today. There was no doubt that they were going to send me to Azkaban.

Finally, he pulled me into a dark room with nothing but a chair. "Sit," he ordered. I sat down in it and chains binded me to the chair, making it so the only thing I was able to move was my head. He pulled out his wand and, by the sounds of it, tapped the wall behind me. The chair began to spin, the wall opened to reveal a much bigger, lighter room. The Wizengamot courtroom. It was relatively empty. This would be a more private case.

I don't remember much about who said what and who said what happened, but all I know is this- every single one of them were lying. They tried saying I was crazy, mentally unstable, and that was the reason I coudln't go to Hogwarts any longer. Marcus appeared and said we'd dated for a brief period of time, breaking up with me when he discovered I was lying about my age, and that must have been why I cursed him. At least ten people from the party said they saw me attack either Marcus or Cornelius, and a couple saw both. A man stood in for Cornelius, stating that the Minister was 'too disturbed to see the eyes of his attacker'.

I wasn't allowed to say much. When I was permitted to, most people either didn't listen, or looked at me with eyes that yelled 'liar'.

The leader of the Wizengamot sat in silence for a little while, everyone staring at him. He was reading the opinions of every other member, waiting to decide my fate. He casually flipped the pages. Did he not realize that he was playing with the life of a young girl? No... all everyone saw was a crazy person, a lunatic who tried to kill the Minister. They were the crazy ones.

Finally, the leader cleared his throat. "In the case of Nathascha Narcissa Rainier Malfoy... We sentence you to 40 years in Azkaban for the attempted assassination of the Minister for Magic."

My eyes widened and tears started running down my face. If anyone was saying anything, I couldn't hear them over the sound of my own screams. The chair flipped back into that small room and the chains released me. Titus grabbed me one more time, leading me through the maze of hallways again. For the last time, maybe. Back into the room I was in the day before. Both parents, and Draco was in there. He silently left, leaving me in a crumpled heap on the floor with my family watching.

"While there was no amount of money we could...donate... to allow your innocence, we did manage something to give you the upper hand there." Father finally said.

I rolled over so I was laying on my back, looking up at my family. "Managed what?" I was done crying. There was nothing I could do, or say. I was done for. Azkaban for 40 years. By the time I got out, my life would be over. I'd be crazier than Aunt Bellatrix. If you're in Azkaban and you go crazy, most of the time they just leave you in there... Would that happen to me?

"After we left you yesterday, we went to Azkaban... Visited with every prisoner, we brought a translator along to talk to the dementors... In the end, we found the most... sane prisoner there. The prisoner least likely to eat you would be the better term, but anyway... That prisoner is going to be your cell-mate." With every word he spoke, he lost just a little bit more energy.

"Thank you.. But how is that supposed to help me?"

Mother spoke up. "having a cellmate means that you'll get hit just a little less by the dementors. It's not going to completely help, but... hopefully it'll be enough."

They went through all that for their crazy daughter. "Thank you so much... I-I appreaciate it. I love you all." I choked up just a tad on the last sentence. My family wasn't a very mushy bunch.

Draco bent down and patted me on the head. "Think of it as our last gift to you... Well, for a while." I tried to smile at him, but it wasn't possible. I mouthed the words 'thank you', tears I didn't know I had welling up in my eyes.

Titus reappeared. "Time to go."

I jumped up. "Go where?"

"Azkaban. This was your good-byes." Titus said flatly. Behind me my family was crying loudly. He motioned for me to follow him, and I did so silently.

"We'll try to visit!" My mother screamed at me as the door closed behind me. I turned around, staring at the big, windowless door. I would have given anything to be back in there with anyone from my family...

"Ready to go?" Titus turned to look at me. I couldn't answer. I wanted to scream 'no!'. "I'm taking that as a yes." He grabbed my arm and twisted, and we were falling through time and space and I couldn't breathe.

The air smelled salty, and the wind was cold. Titus let go of me and pushed me forward. "May God have mercy on your soul."

Dementors came in from all sides and everything went numb. I blacked out.

When I woke up, I was laying on a lumpy mattress with no sheet, and nothing but a thin blanket covering me. I sat up, looked around, and screamed.

Sitting at the end of my bed was a gaunt looking man with elbow-length greasy hair and sunken grey eyes. "What are you doing here?" He asked quickly, eyeing me up and down.

"I-I-I" it was hard to talk. I could feel the dementors floating around everywhere, and I felt like shit. "I think I'm your cell-mate." I managed to slur.

"Lies. You're some sort of spy aren't you? Trying to get me to finally confess? I'm not confessing. I'm innocent. I didn't do it." The guy crawled across the bed so that he was on top of me. "I'm innocent." He growled.

I scooted as fary away from him as I could, falling backwards off of the mattress and hitting the stone floor. "Stop! I'm innocent too! We have that in common! I'm not a spy, I promise! I promise!" He was coming towards me again and I started crying. He stopped and stared at me with a confused face.

"What are you doing here, then?" He tilted his head like a confused dog, narrowing his eyes.

I shakily stuttered out my story. How I had no idea why everyone thought I did what they said I did.

When I finished, he crawled closer. "Use it. Use it or lose it."

"What?" Most sane guy here, my fucking ass.

He grabbed my face in his dirty, smelly hands and looked at me fiercely. "Use your innocence to your advantage. Use it to keep the dementors at bay. Use it or lose your sanity. Like him." He pointed to the guy in the cell across from us. The man was curled up in a ball, his eyes big and blank. He could have been dead for all I knew.

I pushed him away. He had no sense of privacy. "Then why are you here?"

His features darkened and he looked like he was remembering the worst moment of his life. "My... well, I thought he was my friend. He framed me. He killed my friends and then blew himself and a whole street full of muggles up while I watched... The Ministry found me and here I am."

I tried to smile at him. "Well, we have innocence in common." I held my hand out for him to shake. "I'm Nathascha Malfoy."

"Malfoy?" His eyebrows raised, then he shrugged. "I guess it doesn't matter where we come from, but where we are now... I'm Sirius Black." He grabbed my hand with both of his huge hands and shook them enthusiastically.

"We'll get along famously." My lips twitched upwards into the first smile I'd managed in a couple days. He returned the expression.


	3. On Rats and Escapes

*****************************Two Years Later*******************************

Two excruciating years crawled by, each day somehow slower than the next. Sirius taught me to focus on my innocence, to keep the dementors somewhat at bay. While it helped a little, it was really like putting a band-aid over a gunshot wound.

Every day I would wake up, eat whatever meager breakfast was awaiting me and lay down on my bed, going through every moment of that night in my head on a loop. Sirius silently did the same across the cell from me. At some point during the day, Sirius would jump up and start his daily exercises. A long series of push-ups, jumping jacks, and about ten other exercises. Some days I would join him, most days I would not. I would silently watch him complete sit-up after sit-up, the image of Marcus' smirk floating at the top of my mind. Dinnertime would roll around and Sirius and I would eat in a peaceful silence, comptemplating our futures and pasts. Then, we'd lay down and talk for a brief period of time before going to bed. Most of the time we just recounted our stories, occasionally sharing a piece of our personal lives before everything went to shit. And eventually we'd pass out, waking up to do the same thing the next morning.

It was on a day like every other day when everything changed. Sirius was exercising, letting out short little breaths every couple of seconds, and I was thinking about the witch behind Marcus when I hexed him. Was she wearing a green dress or a blue one...?

My thoughts were abruptly interupted by a voice from behind me. "Well, well." I jolted up, scurrying behind Sirius for some sort of mental protection. Cornelius Fudge stood on the other side of the iron bars, his mouth in a frown. "How are two of our more infamous prisoners doing today?"

Sirius stood straight, a fake smile plastered on his face. "Dandy, sir."

Cornelius turned his blue eyes towards me. "And you?"

I couldn't talk. It was one thing to see people in your memories, but it was another matter completely to see them in person. I opened and closed my mouth a few times before I ducked behind Sirius again, grabbing onto his shirt.

Cornelius turned to walk away. "Wait!" Sirius called.

Cornelius turned back around. "Yes?"

"I was just wondering if I could have the newspaper in your pocket sir? I haven't had anything to read in years and I just wanted to catch up on what's been going on... If you don't mind?" He took a step forward, dragging me with him.

The other gentleman looked from Sirius down to the paper in his pocket. "I don't see why not, I suppose." He threw the newspaper into the cell, the paper landing with a _thwap_ onto the stone floor.

"Thank you!" Sirius exclaimed, reaching for it excitedly.

"Any requests from me, Ms. Malfoy?" Now that Sirius was bent over, picking up the loose pages from the paper, he could get a good look at me.

I glared at him. "Tell Marcus I said hi." My teeth were clenched.

Cornelius raised his eyebrows at me in surprise before turning and strutting down the long hallways, his footsteps echoing slightly.

"Look, Nathascha! We have a newspaper to read!" He was smiling slightly, holding the newspaper up like a child would a toy on Christmas Day.

I couldn't lie, I was pretty excited to be able to read something, even if it was just advertisements for Witchy Wonders Skin Cream. "That's awesome!"

He patted the spot on the floor next to him. "Read with me?" I shrugged and sat down beside him, our shoulders touching as we flipped through the paper. I don't think I'd even been this close to Sirius before. Hell, I think my grabbing his uniform was the first time we'd touched since the night we met. He smelled like a moldy, wet blanket. I probably smelled the same.

We probably read the paper four times before Sirius jumped up, taking the front page with him. "I knew it!" He screamed, jamming his finger into the paper.

"What?" I stared up at him from the floor, surprised. "What?!"

"Peter's alive! I knew he was alive! I knew it! Look!" He shoved the paper in my face. It was a group photo of a family who won a bunch of money.

"What about it?"

He poked his finger at the picture again, leaving his finger just underneath a small rat sitting on one of the boy's shoulders, sniffing around innocently. "Look! I'd know him anywhere!"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Sirius... That's a rat..."

Sirius looked at me like I was the stupidest girl on the planet. "No. He's an Animagus. Look there, at his little paw. He's missing a finger. An index finger. The very finger they found of Peter's at the scene of the crime! That bastard cut off his finger and turned into a rat after blowing the place up..." He started muttering to himself, shaking his head and eying the picture intensely.

I leaned in closer to get a better look at the picture. Sure enough, the rat was missing a miniscule finger on one of his paws. "Oh shit," I muttered.

Sirius jumped up, the newspaper pages flying everywhere as he did so. "I have to do something! I have to stop him…. He'll be at Hogwarts. He'll be where Harry is!" His voice started rising and becoming unintelligible. A prisoner from down the corridor yelled at him to shut up. He quieted down, looking down at me intensely with his grey eyes. "I have to get out of here."

"What?!" I exclaimed, jumping up. That was the craziest thing I'd heard in over two years.

He grabbed my shoulders gently. "Think about it. If Pettigrew gets a hold of Harry… That's it. He's going to finish the job Voldemort started 12 years ago. Harry's my godson, and I'll be damned if I let anything happen to him."

I shook out of his grasp. "That's insane! How do you think that you're going to get out of here? We're in maximum security, Sirius! You can't just waltz out of here!"

"I'll find a way… But you…" He stopped talking, deep in thought.

"What about me?" He was stressing me out, really bad.

"When they find out I escaped, they're going to interrogate you. Or punish you, if they think you helped me… You're fucked in here."

The realization of that dawned on me. "You can't go." I said simply.

He looked at me with an eyebrow raised. "Then come with me?"

My eyes widened and I took a step back from him. "I can't. No. Sirius. No. Sirius. No. I get out of here eventually. Someday my sentence will end. No. I can't risk it. They'll kill me. I'll get the kiss!" I was babbling, and I'd fallen against the wall, mouth open and gaping at him.

"But what will you do without me in here? You told me the only reason you were put in this cell was because I was the only sane prisoner here. You'll get killed if they put you with someone else, and you'll end up like him if you have your own cell!" He pointed to the cell across from us. The guy was curled up in the corner, eyes wide and unmoving. He could have been dead for all we knew.

I thought about sharing a cell with my Aunt Bellatrix. She would probably carve out my heart before they shut the door. If I was alone, I had that mind block… But it wouldn't last me forever. Sirius had that, but 12 years in here had definitely taken its toll on him. What would happen by the time I got out of here, in 38 years? Would I be like the guy across from us? Like Aunt Bellatrix? And I didn't have a life sentence, anyway! Sirius did. If he escaped, the worst they could do is kill him, and that would really, in the sickest of terms, shorten his sentence. Me? If I tried to escape, they could give me a life sentence. Give me nothing to live for…. But I had almost 40 years left. It would be too late for me to have kids or have a normal life.

I took a deep breath. "F-fine." My voice quivered as I gave my final answer. I would try to escape. In the end, if I died, I'd just be missing out on being old and crazy. On watching everyone around me live normal lives. There was no normal life for me, no matter what choice I made.

Sirius smiled grimly. "So, any ideas?"

I shook my head. "I'll leave that one to you…"


	4. On My Escape and My First Real Kiss

Days passed before Sirius said anything about the escape again. I thought he'd forgotten about it. Apparently not, though. In the middle of the night, I awoke with a start to Sirius shaking me violently. "I've got it!" He said, his face a foot from mine.

"What?" I was still groggy, and in no mood to discuss anything.

"Our escape plan, come here!" He grabbed me by my shoulders and pulled me off my bed, leading me to the toilet.

I shook my head. "Sirius, I don't have to-"

"No, the window!"

I looked up. The bars that had once been covering the little thing were gone, the night sky unblocked by rusty iron. I was immediately interested. "How did you manage that?"

Sirius shrugged. I noticed his hands were scraped and bloody. "The sea air had rusted them plenty... It didn't take too much to just break them apart."

"So what does this mean?"

"It means we escape."

"Yea, but how?" My heart started pounding faster. I was curious to hear what this plan was.

"You know how I'm an Animagus?" I vaguely remembered him telling me about it not long after we first met. I nodded. "Okay, well... I'm going to turn into a dog and run down the corridor. Then, I'll distract the dementors and turn into a human. They should flock to me, giving you enough time to jump out the window and start swimming to shore... I'll meet you there, under that dock with the fire next to it." He stood on the toilet and pointed to something I couldn't see. I climbed up next to him, and sure enough, way out in the distance was the tiny glow of a fire.

"Are you sure this will work?"

"No. But it's worth it, right?"

I tried to smile, but couldn't. I was still scared as hell. "Sure..."

"It'll be okay, Nathascha... We'll leave later today. Okay?"

I nodded, and went to lay back down and sleep. I tossed and turned that night, too nervous to close my eyes. I hoped and prayed to any and every god that existed that we survived and made it.

I must have fallen asleep, because when I next opened my eyes, it was the middle of the day. Sirius was doing his regular exercises, and my breakfast was laying on the floor.

"You may want to join me today, you'll need the exercise." Sirius gasped out as he did push-ups.

I silently agreed with him, and joined him. I was nowhere near as fit as he was. He was just as skinny as I was, but the little meat on his bones was muscle. I had nothing... Hopefully that would help me stay afloat.

Hours passed silently. Sirius kept pacing the cell, waiting for the perfect moment to leave. I watched him, my heart pounding faster every minute we got closer to escaping. Finally, he nodded to me, grey eyes wide as he transformed into a massive black dog. I gasped. I'd never seen him as his Animagus. He squeezed through the prison bars and ran down the long stone corridor.

I stepped up onto the toilet tank and shakily climbed out into the window. I had to crouch to fit in it, my toes hung out over the edge, and both of my hands were gripping the sides of the window so hard my knuckles were white. It was about a two-story drop into the water... I'd have to launch myself to avoid hitting the rocks, if I was lucky enough to not hit any. A wave of doubt passed over me, and I thought about climbing back down into cell and waiting for the Ministry to come and question me... Maybe if I bullshitted some story about him heading to America, they'd let me go.

As soon as that thought hit me, the affect of the dementors lessened to an extreme degree. Sirius had distracted them. This was my time to go! I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and jumped. I flailed my arms wildly, and hit the cold water like a dropped stone.

I tumbled around in the salty water, doing everything I could to get to the surface and take a breath. I had almost blacked out when I thankfully did, my breaths coming out quick and ragged, appreciating the sweet air. I doggy paddled slowly, trying not to tire myself. I had a long way to go. And it didn't take long for me to exhaust myself. In the middle I gave up and layed in the water, letting the waves take me ever so slowly towards the shore. I rested until it was almost sunrise, when a massive wave dragged me under and spat me out roughly onto the sand.

I looked around, disoriented. The dock wasn't too far away, only a 100 yards or so away. I ran as quickly as I could, glad there was no one on the beach just yet, since I'd lost most of my clothes a long time ago. A black dog sat under the dock, sleeping. I shook it awake, hoping it was Sirius. It opened its grey eyes and made a face I would guess was a doggy smile. It stretched and started heading towards a public bathroom stall. I followed silently, shutting the door behind us when we entered it.

Sirius looked as ragged as I felt. "I was starting to think you drowned."

"I almost did." I said softly, wanting nothing more than to sleep.

"Don't feel too bad. I almost did too," he mouth twitched upwards.

I returned the expression. "What now...?"

"well... We need to part ways now."

"WHAT?" I had not expected that. "I thought we escaped so we could save Harry?"

Sirius flinched. "No, I escaped so I could save Harry... You escaped so you would be free.. Look, I stole a wallet from some Muggles... I don't know how much money's in it, but it should take you to your parents. I know they don't live too terribly far from here. They should help you..."

"You didn't tell me this! What am I supposed to do?" I screamed, bursting into tears.

Sirius took a step forward and put his arms around me in an awkward hug. "It'll be okay. I'll come for you the second I do what I need to. Then we'll be free fugitives together... Deal?"

"No! This is bullshit! You didn't tell me this, Sirius! This is unfair!" I pushed him away.

He gritted his teeth and growled. "Look, I can't take you with me to Hogwarts. Where are you going to hide? If you can hide out in the Muggle world for just a little while, we'll be okay. I'll do what I need to do and everything will be okay... Okay?"

I just glared at him. I stopped crying, but snot was still flowing out of my nose. I swallowed. "Fine."

It looked like a weight had been taken off his shoulders. "If you want to wait just a minute, I'll go steal you some clothes..." He averted his eyes.

"Fine." I repeated. He left me alone in the small public bathroom, and I looked at myself in the mirror for the first time in 2 years. My face was gaunt, my eyes sunken... My hair was a matted mess. I looked just like Sirius did. I combed my hair out with my fingers and washed some of the sand off of my body in one of the showers.

By the time Sirius had come back I looked like a normal person... Well, a normal person who never ate and went out in public in their undergarments. I pulled the clothes he had nabbed on - a baggy T-Shirt for some band I'd never heard of and a pair of shorty-shorts. "Thanks," I muttered.

He transformed back into a human and pulled me into one of the toilet stalls. "People are starting to arrive, so I'm going to have to go soon."

"Oh." My eyes started to tear up again. I really was going to miss him. He was the only comany I had for 2 years, and it was going to be tough to survive without his presence.

He pulled me into another hug. "I'll find you when I'm done. I promise." I nodded my head and sniffled. Sirius pulled back from the hug, his grey eyes boring into mine. His face slowly came closer, and our lips touched softly.

I jumped back from him. "What was that for?"

"Something to remember me by," he winked. "I'll see you, Nathascha." And with that, he was a dog again, trotting out the door.

I waved goodbye, even though he couldn't see me, and took the first step towards home, my mind on his last action.


	5. On Becoming Miss Edmunds

**A/N: I'm sorry, I'm from America, and therefore know nothing about European currency, nor do I know anything about the geography of Europe... So, everything has to be American money, culture, and my own made-up map of the world.**

I quickly left the beach. There was no doubt that the Ministry would be hearing about this sooner than later, and they would be on the hunt as soon as they found out.

I entered a grocery store and wandered around. The wallet Sirius had given me contained seventy-two dollars. I really didn't want to spend my money, but I didn't have a choice. I bought a box of hair dye the same color blonde as my brother's hair, a pair of scissors, and the cheapest map I could find. I chopped off all my hair in the store's bathroom, getting a lot of strange looks from other shoppers, then dyed it. Instead of blonde, my hair was now a dark orange color. Muggle products were so unreliable. I understood why my parents distrusted the whole lot of people.

While I didn't look like an entirely different person, it was a big enough change. I left the store with my map and continued wandering about the streets. According to the map (I was wary about trusting it after the hair incident), I was about 150 miles from home... That would be a long walk. I could hitch-hike, but that would be still be kind of dangerous. What if some Muggle freak tried to kill me? But, it was much safer than walking.

I sighed and stood in front of a brightly colored gas station. Cars filed in and out, and I waited to find a group I'd feel safe traveling with. Finally, a small white vehicle pulled in and 3 girls around my age hopped out, laughing. They could be useful. I shyly headed over. The driver was a girl with long blonde hair. I cleared my throat and she jumped, almost knocking the gas pump out of her car. "Can I help you?" She eyed me suspiciously.

"Um... Maybe. I need a ride somewhere, and I was just wondering if you were heading that way?" I could feel my cheeks growing hot. I never was good at communicating with strangers.

She nodded slowly. "Where are you headed?"

"Just outside of Raven Lake, I know it's far but-"

"Raven Lake?!" One of the other girls screamed from the backseat. "We're going there to go camping!"

The blonde shot daggers at her with her eyes. "Yeah, we actually are. Do you have money for gas?"

I nodded, pulling the wadded bills and some coins out of my pocket. "Yea, I have..." I un-crumpled them. "Fifty-eight dollars. Will that be enough?"

The blonde looked apprehensive. She slowly held her hand out, and I faithfully placed the money in it. "I guess... Any funny business though, and you're out."

"Understood."

It was a horrible car ride. The driver, a college girl named Minnie, and her loud friend (I think her name was Lindsay) blared obscene music and yelled at each other the entire time. The third girl was just as quiet and shy as I was, and I wondered if she was a hitch-hiker like me. Minnie sped through traffic like she was late to her own funeral, and we almost crashed a couple different times.

Finally, we managed to arrive safely in the country, and her driving got better as she turned sharp corners on pot-hole filled roads. "Can you stop here? I'm close enough to where I need to be," I asked, reaching for the door handle.

The car stopped quickly. "You sure? What're you doing way out here?"

"My home, it's way back in the woods." I waved my hand lazily. To Muggles, there was nothing but forest around us. But I could see the large, iron gates to the left that signaled to me that I was home.

"Oh. If you're sure... Hey, if you want, we'll be in Cabin 14 by the lake if you wanna stop by," Lindsay smiled widely at me.

"Thanks, I just might," I tried to smile back, but I hadn't slept in almost 2 days. I exited the car and watched and it lurched forward, swerving around a corner and disappearing.

I sighed and took the long way around our property, through the woods. There was always the possibilities of Ministry Officials sniffing around, waiting for me, and I could never be too cautious.

I snuck in through the back gate, and found my mother laying on a chair in the garden, sunning herself and reading a novel. She jumped up the second she saw me, grabbing my arm and dragging me inside, into the kitchen. "I knew you'd show up eventually," she said tiredly.

"Yea... Not a lot of places for me to go."

Her eyes had red rings around them- she'd been crying a lot today. "I was so afraid that you'd drowned. You have no idea the stress you've put me through today."

I extended my arms to hug her, and she pulled me into her with the intensity that only a mother has. "I'm sorry, Mum..." I muttered into her shoulder. I wasn't apologizing just for the stress today, I meant for every last thing I'd done in the past 18 years.

She started crying. "No, I'm sorry. We should've seen in you Azkaban more often... But we were always so busy, and we had to pretend that we were ashamed of you... I'm sorry. Is that why you did this?"

I shook my head. "No. I just... Mum, I didn't do it. I'm innocent, and I just couldn't bear being in there for no reason."

"And Black?" Her eyes narrowed. "Why did he escape? The rumours are that he's after that Potter boy, going to finish him off?"

"I have no idea. We escaped together, but we went our own ways." I looked down.

She nodded at me slowly. "Why are you here?"

"I was hoping you'd be able to set me up in the Muggle World. You know, so I can hide in thier world."

"I knew you were going to ask for that," my mother snapped her fingers and an unfamiliar house elf appeared. "Grab the files for me, Zippy." The elf bowed and disappeared with a loud crack.

I nodded towards where the creature had just vanished from. "Who's that?"

"Zippy. Potter pulled a scheme to free Dobby... Ugh. I wouldn't be upset if Black did get him." She crinkled her nose at the thought.

Zippy appeared with a small handbag. "Mistress."

My mother took them without a word and handed them to me. "I believe this should have everything you need?"

I opened it and found it full of different papers and cards. Certificate of birth, liscense to drive... Muggles really did some pointless things. My parents had chosen the name 'Victoria Elizabeth Edmunds'... Very up-to-date...For the 18th century. "Thanks so much. You've done so much for me... I don't deserve this." She'd also supplied me with a rather large stack of one hundred dollar bills. I'd still need a job, but I'd be comfortable until that happened.

"We take care of each other. You need to leave now, though..." Mother's eyes started to get teary. "Your father's actually at a meeting right now, discussing with them what they'll do if... If... you know."

"Yea." I hugged my mother one last time.

And with that, I was on my own for the second time in a day. I headed towards the lake, hoping to sleep at the cabin the Minnie and Lindsay and that other girl was staying at.

By the time I arrived, it was dark, and a party was well under way. There were a lot more people at Cabin 14 then I was expecting. Minnie rushed over to me when she saw me, a red cup of something strong smelling sloshing around. "Hey, stranger! You made it. Help yourself to something... or someone," she winked and turned to another girl and started talking enthusiastically with her.

I headed inside the cabin and pushed past the people partying inside, and layed down on the bedroom floor, stealing a pillow off of one of the beds. The party was insanely loud, but my body was more than ready to end the day. It took mere moments before I was asleep.


End file.
